System and method of advertising and marketing

ABSTRACT

The invention also relates to the measurement and specific sales and marketing that can be performed as a result of the information gathered by the data terminals.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Provisional Application 61/011,098filed on Jan. 15, 2008.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTINGCOMPACT DISC APPENDIX

Not applicable.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to a system and method for electronicproduct information display systems. More specifically, the inventionrelates to an improved marketing and advertising system and method thatincludes a data terminal for communicating information over acommunication network and a display terminal for displaying informationrelated to products that are being offered for sale, and for measuringcustomers' interaction with these displays in a retail location.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Paper shelf tags have long been used to display pricing information inassociation with the shelving on which various products are displayedfor purchase. The tag provides product information, pricing information,bar codes which can be used for inventory control, as well as otherinformation. While paper shelf tags are ubiquitous, they are somewhatcumbersome in use. Moving product location on a shelf requires removalof the tag. Updating of pricing also requires tag removal and orreplacement. These characteristics of the shelf tag also result in therisk that the replacement tag is not placed in the correct location,that the replacement is not done promptly, or that the replacement isnot accurate.

The above limitations have been overcome by the development and use ofelectronic shelf tags. Such tags utilize an electronic display, such asa liquid crystal display (LCD), display driver circuitry, programminginterface circuitry, and other miscellaneous control circuitry toprovide for the display of information relative to a product associatedwith the tag. Such electronic displays can display the same informationas that provided by a paper shelf tag and can be updated with newinformation from a source that communicates with the display tag viawired or wireless communication links. The information source can be acentralized computer system and database that is disposed in the retailselling location or connected to such location via a communicationsnetwork, including the Internet. Or, the source can be a portablehand-held device that is brought to a location proximate to the tag tobe updated and couples its updating information to the tag via a wiredor wireless communications link.

Electronic tags can also be used to provide cross-promotional messagesor advertising for products other than that whose product descriptionand price, etc. are being displayed by the tag. For purposes of thisapplication, the subject matter of such cross-promotional messages oradvertising shall be referred to as “second products” to distinguishthem from the “first products” whose product information and pricing arealso being displayed by the tag. So, for example, a display thatdisplays information and pricing about digital cameras, i.e., the firstproduct, could also provide cross-promotional messages or advertisingabout color printers, i.e., the second product, and the location of suchsecond products. Another example might be one that displays a secondproduct that is relatively unrelated to the first product, except forthe shared target customer for both products. That is, a display thatdisplays information and pricing about Apple iPods could also providecross-promotional messages and advertising about BMWs. The obviousadvantage is enhancing sales of the first and second products viatargeted advertising to prospective purchasers of the first product. Therelationship, however, in this example is a fixed one. The scope of thepromotional advertising can be increased without significant decrease inbenefit via knowledge of a prospective purchaser's demographicinformation or past shopping habits. So, for example, RFID tags carriedby the prospective purchaser can be used to provide information aboutthe purchasing history of a prospective purchaser. In this manner, therelationship between the first and second products can be dynamic andindividualized to each prospective purchaser. The shortcoming of the useof RFID tags is that the wireless link is subject to noise and signalimpairments and the prospective purchaser may not carry his tag at alltimes. It would be desirable if an arrangement could be devised thatwould permit a dynamic relationship between the second products andfirst products, one that would provide targeted messages geared toparticular prospective purchasers in a manner that would increase salesof the products in a manner that would overcome the limitations of RFIDtags.

Interaction between the customer and such an invention in a retailenvironment may also increase the information that a retailer ormanufacturer can learn about prospective customers' shopping habits,interests and potential future transactions. The concept of “dialoguemarketing” can be facilitated through the use of this invention by theacquisition and analysis of the customers' in-store shopping patterns.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention combines the use of digital price tags and displays withadvertising in a retail environment. In addition to being able todisplay dynamic pricing and content about a first product that is beingmerchandised, the invention relates to devices that display advertisingand information in a dynamic fashion with respect to a second product aswell.

One aspect of the invention relates to the displaying of informationabout the second product based on information obtained directly from thetargeted purchaser through the use of interactive means. Utilizing thisaspect of the invention, the purchaser provides information directly tothe system by any known method of man-machine interaction. Such methodsmay include for example, a keyboard, a pointing device such as a mouseor trackball, a touch screen display, a voice recognition system or anyother input type device, including cellular phones, PDAs or othercommercially available handheld devices, owned by the customer orprovided by the retailer.

Another aspect of the invention relates to the displaying of advertisinginformation of the second product based on proprietary in-store andaggregated industry data from in-store market and/or industry research.Utilizing this aspect of the invention, a processing unit connected to adisplay will determine the second product to advertise based on thelikelihood that a particular consumer at a particular time and date andfor a first product will meet certain demographic criteria. The datacollected and analyzed by the invention can then be used to formulatefollow-up sales and marketing efforts by the retailer and the relevantvendors of the products.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is madeto the following description and accompanying drawings, while the scopeof the invention is set forth in the appended claims:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an exemplary display system inaccordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a display system inaccordance with the invention.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of a displaysystem in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of a displaysystem in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of a displaysystem in accordance with the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION I. System Overview

The present invention concerns electronic product information displaysystems. More specifically, the invention relates to an improvedmarketing and price tagging system that includes a data terminal forcommunicating information over a communication network and a displayterminal for displaying information related to first and second productsthat are being offered for sale.

The disclosed electronic display tag system and methodology aspect ofthe present invention allows retailers to advantageously exploitelectronic price tag displays by delivering targeted information toconsumers and patrons in the general vicinity of the electronic tagdisplay. This target information can be sent back to an electronicdisplay in the vicinity of such consumers and patrons or subsequentlysuch to such persons via conventional mail, email, text messaging orother communications means. Identifying such consumers and patrons andgathering their respective contact information can be done when signingup for a “loyalty program” or via prompts on the electronic display orby completion of a questionnaire followed by the distribution of RFID orother shopper identification tags that are carried about and mayidentify the carriers' whereabouts within the retailer's store as afunction of time.

Referring to the drawings, like numbers indicate like parts throughoutthe views as used in the description herein, the meaning of “a,” “an,”and “the” includes plural reference unless the context clearly dictatesotherwise. Also, as used in the description herein, the meaning of “in”includes both “in” and “on” unless the context clearly dictatesotherwise. Also, as used in the description herein, the meanings of“and” and “or” include both the conjunctive and disjunctive and may beused interchangeably unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

FIG. 1 shows display tag system 100. Display tag system 100 is comprisedof product shelving 10, display tag 20, display processor 30, customerinput device 40, main processor 50 and communications link 60.

The invention embodied by display system 100 allows a customer 1, in thearea of display 20 to input requested information via input device 40 inresponse to specific prompts or queries displayed on display 20regarding a second product. After receiving inputs from a user via inputdevice 40, display 20, in addition to, or in conjunction with,displaying information about a first product, will also displayinformation about a second product that was chosen by processor 30 orprocessor 50 in response to the user's inputs.

With respect to FIG. 1, product shelving 10 may be any general type ofproduct display utilized in a retail environment as long as there isadequate room to mount display tag 20. Display tag 20 may be a liquidcrystal display (LCD), organic LED (OLED) or any other type ofcommercially available display of sufficient size and shape to displayalpha numeric and graphical images for the desired information.Additionally, display 20 may have multiple regions on which to displaymultiple independent pieces of information about a first product and asecond product. Display 20 connects to display processor 30. As seen inFIG. 1 display processor 30 may be a general-purpose computer containinga central processing unit 32, a temporary memory 34, a permanent memory36 and input and output device interfaces 38. Alternatively, displayprocessor 30 may be a special purpose computer or processor designed tospecifically interface with display 20, input device 40 and mainprocessor 50.

Display processor 30 may act as an interface between main processor 50display 20 and input device 40. Input device 40 is any known user inputdevice, such as a keyboard, mouse, pointing device, microphone, cellphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) or the like, as long as itallows a customer or user to input any relevant information required bydisplay tag system 100. Input device 40 may even be a touch screendevice integrated into display 20.

Main processor 50 may be a general purpose computer containing, a CPU51, main memory 52, random access memory 53, input output devices 54,data entry device 55, and a display. It may be located proximate todisplay 20 or may be in a remote location. Main processor 50communicates with display processor 30 via communications link 60.Communications link 60 may be a wired and/or wireless link between mainprocessor 50 and display processor 30. Alternatively, main processor 50and display processor 30 may reside in a single computer and may be runon a single CPU.

In operation, display 20 will display information regarding a firstproduct that is located in close proximity to display 20. Alternatively,the first product, i.e. a commercially available laptop computer, mayfunction as both the first product and as display 20. That is, thelaptop computer, itself, is both on display in the store for sale ordemonstration, and is also functioning as the invention. An exemplarydisplay of information shown on display 20 for a first product willcontain the first products unit price, quantity, or other relevantinformation the retailer or product manufacturer wishes to convey aboutthe first product. When a user is within viewing distance of display 20,display 20 may, in addition to displaying information about a firstproduct, also seek input from the consumer regarding a second product.For example, display 20 may prompt the user with questions regardingother similar types of products. Or, the prompts may request informationabout the purchaser, such as his age, likes/dislikes, or futurecontemplated purchases. In either case, the prompts may be in the formof queries displayed on display 20, or could be auditory prompts to theuser. In response, a user may input a response to the prompts utilizinginput device 40. Input device 40 is typically located proximate todisplay 20 and allows a user to respond to the prompts through one of avariety of well known inputting methods.

Once a user responds to the prompts from display 20, the response isconveyed to main processor 50 via display processor 30 and communicationlink 60. Main processor 50, using decision making processes based on theusers' responses then selects the proper information regarding a secondproduct to display back to the user via display 20. Alternatively, theinformation received from the user via input device 40 may be processeddirectly by display processor 30, and a determination regarding whichsecond product to display may be reached without conveying theinformation to or from main processor 50.

Once the determination of which second product to display is reached,the information is conveyed to the customer via display 20. Using thisinvention, dynamic advertising messages based on specific user input maybe advantageously displayed to the targeted consumer.

FIG. 2 depicts another embodiment of the present invention that utilizeshistorical data to select the second product information to display. Inthis embodiment of the invention, main processor 50 makes adetermination of the second product information to display based onhistorical data stored in database 75. Database 75 may store historicaldemographic information based on numerous consumers' past practices. Forexample, database 75 may store information about past consumerdemographics based on certain key field indicators such as time, day ofthe week, first product characteristics, etc. Utilizing the historicalresults the system can search database 75 by utilizing the fieldindicators in the database and make a prediction of the demographics ofa particular consumer at a particular time of day with respect to aparticular product. For example, if gathered historical data indicatesthat a typical purchaser of a first product on a Tuesday between 9:00a.m. and 11:00 a.m. is a 35-year-old female, then between 9:00 a.m. and11:00 a.m. of each Tuesday, display 20 will display information thatwould be relevant to a consumer fitting those criteria. If thehistorical data changes over time, the messages displayed on display 20will be dynamically selected based on the changing criteria. In thismanner, display 20 is more likely to convey information relevant to aspecific consumer rather than a random selection of content. Theinformation contained in database 75 will be derived from proprietaryhistorical research from sources including, but not limited to,retailers, manufacturers and independent researchers. It can beaugmented over time by the continued collection and analysis of shopperdemographic data in-store.

Information measured, gathered, stored and analyzed about the shoppers'habits can then be used by the retailer, manufacturer, or otherthird-party to follow up with sales and marketing efforts bettertargeted to the individual shopper. For example, a shopper may bemeasured to have looked only at certain items in any number of aisles orcategories in a retail store; future marketing communications will begeared toward related and/or relevant products, services and accessoriesat that retailer or by other firms choosing to market to thisindividual.

Further, by using in-store historical data rather than historical datacollected at a different location, the information contained in database75 will be more targeted for a specific retailer.

From the embodiments of the invention described above, it should beunderstood that the present invention is not limited to those disclosedembodiments. Various changes and modifications thereof could be made byone of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit orscope of the invention. So, by way of example, while a single display isshown in the disclosed embodiments for displaying information about thefirst and second products, a different display could be used to displayinformation about the second product in the manner disclosedhereinabove. In such a scenario, the second display would be located ata position wherein its displayed messages could be read by a prospectivepurchaser who was proximate to the first display. Or, for that matter,the present invention is not limited to displaying information onlyabout a second product. Indeed, it can be used to display informationabout one or more second products based on information gathered asdescribed hereinabove. Alternative embodiments also include use of alaptop computer or desktop computer, monitor and input device to serveas both the product on display for sale or demonstration by the retailerand as the invention, itself, as depicted in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5.

What is claimed is 1) A system comprising: a processor; a display fordisplaying information about a first product and a second product; andan input device for receiving information from a user regarding thedemographics, personal information, or the first or second product;and/or a database of demographic information wherein, the received orstored information is conveyed to the processor, and wherein, theprocessor, in response to the received information or by use of thestored information, outputs information to the display regarding thesecond product.